


The Thoughts That Keep Us Alive

by Skoop



Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine, Disney Cartoons (Classic), Felix the Cat (Cartoon), Looney Tunes | Merrie Melodies
Genre: Abuse, Aged-Up Character(s), Chapters will be DENSE with writing, Cliffhangers abound, Emotional Manipulation, Gen, Lots of character interpretation, More tags to come but spoilers, No Smut, Only a small portion of the Joey Drew's studios knows what the Ink Machine really does, Period-Typical Racism, Smoking, Stockholm Syndrome, Takes place all during the Great Depression, Work In Progress, You will hate Joey and Sammy and I'm sorry for that
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-10
Updated: 2017-06-14
Packaged: 2018-10-30 11:52:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10876230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skoop/pseuds/Skoop
Summary: In a world where Cartoons exist alongside their creators, the Great Depression hits and companies are forced to take drastic measures to ensure their presence in these daunting times.Circa 1933, Joey Drew takes the West by storm with his Bendy Cartoons. Some say his creations will blow Disney straight out of the water.There's only one particular problem:The studio's stars are growing surprisingly restless.Bendy and Boris are captives for the studio they work for. Nobody knows of the truth about the Ink Machine and what it REALLY DOES.Either they will get the truth out to the world, or they will die trying.Personally, they prefer the latter over the former. Less death on their part.





	1. We place our faith into you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fic Cover located here: http://skoopskoop.tumblr.com/post/160442875009/its-here-the-cover-at-least-chapter-1-2-are  
> Chapter Cover located here: http://skoopskoop.tumblr.com/post/160531702059/chapter-1-of-the-thoughts-that-keep-us-alive-is

Bendjamin shook like a leaf as he stared down at his camera. He didn’t dare look up at the driver of the vehicle he were currently trapped in for fear of upsetting them even more than he already may have. Nervous, tiny fingers fidgeted with the dials on the device as he focused on remaining calm.

He needed to stay calm.

Don’t let him know you’re scared.

Don’t let him know you’re vulnerable.

“You got awful quiet back there.” He nearly had a heart attack when the driver spoke for the first time in hours. Of course, Bendjamin practically dove to catch his juggled camera before smoothing his coat near obsessively.

“I’m alright.” The words were grit out, Bendy hoping to god that he didn’t sound as strained as he actually were. He waited for a response for another minute before continuing to fiddle with the only comforting object he owned.

The night seemed to drag on endlessly and, for them, it would.

Everything was fine for the first few hours of the ride.

Highbeams nearly blinded Bendy as he sat on the edge of the road, his focus on the moon unraveled instantaneously. The lights reflected off layers of powder soft snow that decorated the surrounding area. He was cold, for sure, but he didn’t usually feel temperature under normal circumstances. Perhaps the anxiety made him frigid? It wasn’t everyday you got the chance to hitchhike in the middle of the night.

Bendy slunk towards the window of the car and peered in with slight apprehension over the man he could just barely make out. His face seemed trustworthy to the little toon; the strong jawline, well kept hair and glasses speaking volumes of his character. If you asked Bendjamin why he thought it was a good idea to get into the man’s car, he wouldn’t answer.

He just looked trustworthy.

The excitable child bounced around the back seat for hours, snapping photos of just about everything. Himself, the milky blurs of passing trees outside the window, the sun and how it set the horizon ablaze as it moved away- everything.

Somewhere along the line, sleep had snuck up upon the unsuspecting demon. Ensnared in its unforgiving grasp, Bendy curled up and fell into a staunch, dreamless slumber. There was nary a fret made over flat out falling unconscious in some stranger’s vehicle. There wouldn’t be one for another five hours.

He woke up with a small start, his stomach twisting like he was going to puke. This was a foreign sensation. Was he hungry? Was he carsick? Bendjamin barely mulled over the thought before his hands pressed around blindly for his camera.

“Where…??” The panicked gasp he made caught the attention of his chauffeur and the man spoke to him for the first time since he’d been convinced to accept the lift.

“Looking for something perhaps, Bendjamin?” The teeny demon’s attention fixated on the driver’s hand stretched across the console, resting on something in the passenger side seat. Cocking his head enough revealed the device was now upfront. The sick feeling only got stronger.

“My… my camera. I lost it.” Bendy never loses it. It’s been around his neck since the day he built it. He sleeps hugging the damn thing- the only way it could have been brought up front is if the driver took it off him.

What a creepy thought.

“It’s right up here,” A warm, convincing tone that failed to do its job for the child. “When you fell asleep, you knocked it to the floor. I retrieved it so that you wouldn’t step on it by accident.”

Bendjamin’s hand instinctively flew to his neck, searching for the camera belt to prove his story. It wasn’t anywhere around him. It had to still be with his camera that the man removed from his person.

Why did he take the camera and think it’d be a good idea to lie about it?

“Can I have it back? It means a lot to me.” Understatement of this century. It was his only family since he’d been forced to hoof it to California from Georgia. It was all he had left.

Thankfully, the man returned his dear camera without much hassle. Despite the itch that needed to be sated, Bendjamin would let the tension in the car die down slightly before he’d go to check his film reel. Besides that, even the soft, cartoony glow of his eyes didn’t provide enough light to expose anything on the film.

The question why the driver took his camera lingered enough for Bendjamin to feel unease in the car for the rest of the ride.

A couple hours later, Bendy had noticed a sign whiz by. Even smudged and dimmed against the star speckled sky, he were sure of one thing it said: Los Angeles.

He perked up slightly, eyeing the driver with caution to distinguish what he planned on doing about missing the exit he’d promised to drop Bendjamin off at. Only ten minutes had passed down the road and Bendy was already getting that queasy sensation once more. How was he supposed to address this situation properly?

“How far away are we from Los Angeles?”

No response.

Bendy pressed himself flush against the seat, his fingers trembling softly.

“I… think we passed the exit a while back.” He sounded so small all of a sudden- Akin to a tiny mouse attempting to speak up to a giant.

“And I am well aware.”

That’s the ticket.

Bendjamin’s breath hitched in his throat, the cartoon looking down to hide his alarmed expression. Eventually, he spoke his mind in a rather subdued tone: “Wasn’t I supposed to be dropped off there?”

The lack of an answer forced the demon back to toying with his camera, curious now more than ever what the man may have seen on his camera. Pushing himself down into his seat, he attempted to remain composed.

His petite hand slid away from the task he’d occupied himself with, testing the front side passenger door handle with a subtle tug. How silly of him to forget the car door was locked! How silly of him to remember it wasn’t locked in the first place nor should it currently be. Near nervously, Bendjamin’s hand drifted up to rest on the window’s edge to test how hard it’d be to pop the jammed door open.

“What are you doing there, Ben?”

Bendjamin froze, sliding back ever so slowly as his mind swirled to think of an adequate excuse.

“I don’t know.”

Brilliance. What a typical answer a kid would give when knowing they’d been caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

“You don’t know?”

“No…”

The follow-up stillness was strangling. His focus fell to his camera once more. He was no longer a hitchhiker, but a victim of a kidnapping. The realization shook him to the core, his lithe fingers acting on their own to snap an awkwardly positioned shot of his captor.

Once.

Twice.

“Having fun, Ben?” The third photo had attracted undesired attention. Bendy replied back, his voice quavering slightly.

“Taking more pictures.” Think of an excuse. Lie through your teeth. “My family wants me to send ‘em photos of the journey.”

“I was led to believe your creator has abandoned you.”

“Uh…” Did he honestly let that detail slip? He might have mentioned it during introductions. Damn it. “Sh-she did, but I-I still have family with her that remember me. Like… like a hundred others back home.”

“And are you sure they would okay with you heading out without any supervision? You do seem startlingly young to be all by yourself.” His tone sounded faux incredulous. It doesn’t take a genius to differentiate speech patterns. The jerk didn’t buy a single word coming out of his mouth.

“Moving an entire studio out west is too much work for her right now. Money was… is tight.” Bendjamin sighed and shook his head solemnly. That were the truth, as unfortunate as it may sound. With the Great Depression in full swing, the only thing keeping his entire ‘family’ alive was their creator’s sacrifice.

“She… had so many of us. So very many of us and we all barely had living space in her home.”

The only person they could afford to feed was their creator. She took to eating scraps while forking whatever little income she’d saved for ink to feed her toons. What little ink they got during a normal week varied.

“Eventually, there wasn’t enough food for everyone. Some wouldn’t take any fresh ink for days on end just to feed the kids first. After a while, the toons, my family began seizing. ... I didn’t know what seizing was when it first started happening to them…”

It wasn’t too outlandish to see a forgotten family member ‘seize’ as they would call it. When a toon went long enough without any ink supply to them, their body dried up. They could be saved, but Bendjamin would rather tell himself otherwise because none of them actually did anything to save the others. They mourned and allowed them to decay into a black spot on the ground- a grim reminder and a headstone of sorts for their loss.

“I could have... I-I could have refused all those times they offered me their food. I was just another mouth to feed, another weight on their shoulders. Now they’re probably better off since I got...” Since he got lost. Since he was left in the woods to rot away while waiting obediently for his creator to come back like a lost little puppy.

He realized she wasn’t coming back.

He would die before she discovered him.

Bendjamin gripped his camera so firmly that he took another picture on pure accident. Whirring film noises snapped him back to reality. He should stay focused. “But, that’s why I’m going to Los Angeles. I heard from a friend it was the best place to be if I wanted to make it out here.”

“So, you’re looking to be adopted by a surrogate creator?”

The demon cocked his head, arching a singular eyebrow up before narrowing his eyes. Surrogate? His vocabulary wasn’t vast enough for this. “Yeeeeeees…?”

“I see,” The man turned to check if there was another car coming down the road before merging lanes, the weather worn pavement causing the buggy to all but rattle the little demon to death as they turned into a city. It… looked like Los Angeles to Bendjamin. “How long do you estimate that will take?”

This probably wasn’t where he wanted to be. All cities looked the same to him.

“I don’t know.” His chest tightened, his small mind twisting the conversation to an exponentially grim note. If he didn’t find one in time, he’d die with no one. Cut and dry.

What if this creep wanted to be his new creator?

Bendjamin paused, his thoughts stopping on a dime. “No… I-I’m going to get one. I just need to… need to be on my way.”

“On your way towards?”

“My future... Any way that i-isn’t with you.” His tone darkened, the little demon shaking as he pushed himself onto his knees in the back of the car. He knew he had said too much. This man asked too many questions about him, about his life, all because Bendjamin couldn’t stop wearing his heart on his sleeve. “I’d like you to pull over so that I can get out now, please.”

A venomous silence.

“Pull over the car. Please.” Bendjamin wasn’t going to accept the silent treatment. His tail flicked back and forth angrily, the little child shaking hard enough to be considered vibrating. The continuation of the quiet game plucked his final straw, Bendy pushing himself up to crawl through the center console and into the front of the car. “I said pull--!”

Crossing the gap between the seats didn’t work when the man decided it was his turn to punish the rowdy toon. Bendjamin barely had time to react as the man slamming his foot on the accelerator. Momentum hurled the demon unceremoniously backwards before the break were stomped in quick succession to launch Bendy directly over the passenger seat’s headrest.

He was pretty sure that thunderous crack was either his face breaking the dashboard or the dashboard breaking his face.

“It’s only proper to wear a safety belt when in a vehicle, Bendy.”

Of course, Bendjamin hissed back at the man, tears in his eyes as he curled up on himself. Ink dripped down his head and stained the floor jet black. It was difficult to distinguish which part of him felt the worst; he was in pain, he was scared, but most of all, Bendjamin was angry enough to begin losing composure.

“Stop it.”

“Stop what exactly?”

“You... know what I mean.”

“Tell me what it is you want me to stop.”

“The goddamn car!” Chalk up his first curse! What a milestone.

“I cannot.” The man focused on the taking a series of turns Bendy was unable to determine, but felt nonetheless. For a second, the guy sounded almost remorseful. Almost as if he felt bad in the slightest-- which he should, by the way. It’s completely justified to feel HORRIBLE for hurting a child whom you’ve decided to swipe off the streets in the middle of the mountain trails.

A disheartening gap in conversation were filled by another quick stop. Bendjamin struggled to heave his torso across the seat, groaning from the pulsating ache through his entire body. The sound of the man exiting the car took a good minute to register.

Bendjamin’s limp hand twisted and jerked the door handle on his side of the car impatiently, the toon hoping he could rip the thing off. That minute was apparently long enough for him to lock the car.

The demon pushed himself up to indignantly glare at the figure of the man outside, his pupil twitched threateningly when he managed to catch the man wagging his finger scoldingly towards him. He couldn’t see it for long considering he lost his temper and punched the window hard enough to splash his Ink across the entire glass.

Gritting his teeth, Bendjamin sat there stewing in his rage. This was messed up! This wasn’t fair at all! He wasn’t some animal to keep cooped up in a car like this!

He kicked the door a few times, grunting as he hurt his own foot more than he mangled the car. Next, the enraged tantrum followed suit where Ben blacked out each window with ink. Then he dug his nails into the seats, ripping them open and chewing the vinyl to wreck whatever he could. Biting through the glove box revealed a bunch of important documents to be stored inside.

Like, documents of character designs and jobs. All of them with NAMES.

Documents to save for later.

Bendjamin scoured the papers, realizing quickly that his reading level were too low to decipher this unintelligent chicken scratch. He understood certain words like “Music”, “Cartoon”, “Animation”. When it came to understanding everything else, it was all boring. Boring, boring, completely and utterly useless.

He found the most important piece of the paper. The name of his current kidnapper was laid out right there in black and white.

“S... Sam… Sammy… La… Law… rence.”

Sammy Lawrence.

Instantaneously, Bendjamin abhorred the name. Saying it under his breath only served to make him angrier with every repetition. He’d burn it into his memory so that the sound would be associated to simpering hatred.

“Sammy! Let me out of here!” Bendy shrieked at the top of his lungs. Once that noise all but died down, he sat there out of breath. He was getting nowhere fast. Chasing his own tail would be more productive at this point.

The little cartoon shoved the documents he’s discovered and subsequently crumpled into his backpack that he’d stored underneath his seat. Best to keep whatever evidence he could hidden away.

What to do now?

Pawing at the door proved futile, Bendy wasn’t strong enough yet to break a window and he couldn’t see much considering the car’s interior looked like it would need a power wash to get all his ink out. His anger was subsiding in his little time out. The only thing he could think to do now was search for his Camera he’d dropped once more and perform a maintenance check.

It seemed alright despite being thrown through the wringer with it’s owner. A small sense of relief washed over the demon as he took a test picture in the dark of the car. The all too familiar mechanical whirr felt comforting in this dark time. Whatever Bendy would be left to do here other than stew in his bitterness was up in the air now. He couldn’t just sit in hot water and do whatever. Better learn to swim.

The noise of shoes clicking against pavement outside startled him. How long had he been causing a ruckus? Whomever Sammy was conversing with sounded rather annoyed that Bendjamin were so ‘lively and destructive.’

‘All habits that can be broken easily.’

Muffled voices filtered into the chassis, Bendjamin panicking on how he’d handle having the door unlocked. Should he play dead? Pretend to be asleep and then bolt for it once he found an opening or should he rush them both? What would he do if his plan failed?

His pulse skipped when he heard a key forced into the lock and the loud resounding clunk the mechanism made in tandem.

This was his one shot. He’s not throwing away his shot.

An inaugural photo was snapped when the door swung open. Bendy didn’t know why he did it-- he panicked! Either way, he could only hope the photo would develop properly in the end. He then lunged, leaping forward in a valiant effort to break through the two men blocking his escape. They pushed together to form this blockade between them that Bendjamin couldn’t weasel past.

The coordination between his captors was lacking. This was probably something these guys have never done before…Their hands fumbled to find proper ways to grapple the cartoon demon all while restraining his flailing enough so they wouldn’t lose an eye from a stray claw swipe.

Then came the screaming, which didn’t last very long. Ben tried to make a huge fiasco: crying out, kicking the car and scuffing his feet along the asphalt. He wanted it to sound like an actual fight was happening to garner the attention of some fool passing by. Within moments, he felt one of the men wrap their hands around his throat and nearly crush him to death abruptly. It hurt worse than smashing his face, it hurt worse than anything he’d ever felt before and he’d go so far as to kill the man to get him to stop.

Bendjamin’s lips curled back, his tiny teeth glinting in a silent hiss as he knit his brows together. He dragged his free hand up along the other’s arm, digging his claws into any soft flesh he could find. Dangling feet swung savagely as he fought suffocation encroaching upon him. The hands around his neck were gripping him so tight, he could hear the new man strain to squeeze that tight. His hands were shaking and, in turn, shaking the demon as well.

Once his ears began to ring, his movements grew lethargic and it became cumbersome to move at all. The grip slackened considerably once it seemed like Bendjamin were more than incapacitated. All he could hear for the first 30 seconds was this ghastly whistling noise- a loud screech that only blocked out everything around him. He couldn’t see straight anymore, only fall limp like a useless ragdoll as he were traded between the men then carried under someone’s arm like a piece of luggage.

Even with his murky vision on the verge of blacking out, he still caught sight of something shiny on the ground. Possibly something broken.

Where was...his camera?

Thoughts swirled in his head like an ink filled snow globe. It was sickeningly incomprehensible now that he’d been nearly choked to death in the middle of an alleyway.

“It was meant to be that we met, Bendjamin.” Sammy’s voice pierced the veil of his subconscious. “Listen to my voice.”

A pretty voice, very trustworthy. He hated it. Yet, Sammy continued considering Bendy's inability to respond.

“You may not understand what I’m saying now, but this is destiny. I promise you that I can save you; you just have to trust me and I, in turn, will place my faith into you.”

What malarky was he spewing?

“I...We are terribly remorseful that we had to hurt you so, but you would not cooperate. The situation spiraled- and so did our standards on conducting ourselves. For that, you deserve an apology. Right, Drew?”

“I’m very sorry that we had to meet under these circumstances, but we can make it up to you.”

Two insane bastards. Not one, but two. **‘Sammy’ and ‘Drew’ on the road to adventure! And a hefty criminal record!’**

What a day to be alive.

Bendjamin pushed himself to respond back and ended up only making a pathetic croak.

“We need you to trust us, Bendjamin. You’re a hero to us and our studio. We needed a good, stable star now more than ever. You’re our businesses last chance to kickstart a brand; you are our savior.”

Which one was talking again? Drew, probably. His voice was significantly different than Sammy’s. What were they even talking about?

Bendy wasn’t this martyr. He was a cartoon DEMON, and only around two years old at that. You’ve lost the kid. This sounded like some desperate stretch of the imagination. All this evangelical type worship wasn’t his forte.

He felt himself be placed gently in an unfortunate pile on the floor, his vision slowly clearing. The scuffle has drained every speck of energy from him and made turning his head an uphill battle. A large machine took up most of the space in the room. It was pretty impossible to miss the monstrous thing.

What the hell was that? It looked like a mix of a vacuum and a washing machine. The way the two men were fiddling intently with it didn’t put him at ease. He pushed himself up with all the strength he could muster, his trembling arms propping him up unstably.

“Wh….” He wheezed, choking when he realized his lungs weren’t ready to hold any amount of air. Sammy visibly flinched when Ben started hacking up a lung, pausing to rub his temples for a second.

He might have broken the man’s rapt concentration.

“The Ink Machine, if you were asking what this beautiful, annoying piece of work is.” Sammy curtly explained before returning to his incessant knob fiddling. “It’s an idea that Joey has been developing for quite some time now. No matter how unwieldy the drawbacks of said machine may be.”

Those words sounded sharply directed to the other man in the room, Joey rolling his shoulders nonchalantly.

“Think of this as a gift. A gift made for you.” Joey turned, walking towards Bendy slowly enough that the demon’s fear spiked. He slammed his back against the wall and stiffly dragged his blood soaked nails along the wall, successfully splintering the wood as he did so. “You did want to be a star, didn’t you?”

“No…” He wanted to be a star in any way other than what these two madmen were planning.

Bendjamin arched uncomfortably when Joey picked him up once more. His vision spun as he were splayed out closer towards the nozzle of the machine, the demon shaking how his head was positioned perfectly to see the void of a hole. It was like looking into a wet cave- waterdrops echoing from deep within the dark expanse within.

The threatening creaking of the machine coming to life shook Bendy to the core. He wanted to get up and run, but his limbs felt as though they were made of pure lead.

“No! Counter-clockwise, Sammy! _You’ll kill him!”_

Nope.

The word ‘Kill’ empowered Bendjamin enough to roll out of harm's way.

For the most part.

There was a loud crack of thunder and red-hot pain surged through his spine. A scream followed suit, Bendy unsure as to what had happened, but sure of one thing for certain- He never wanted it to happen again.

Twisting to look behind himself, he expected to see a burnt streak down his spinal column, but instead… there was no damage. No sign he’d been hit by anything.

All except for one terrifying missing detail.

“Tail? M-my tail?! It’s gone!” Indeed, it was entirely missing and judging by the way both Sammy and Joey reacted, it probably wasn’t going to be coming back any time soon. Joey knelt close to Bendy, acting almost afraid to touch the little demon child.

“Bendy, you’ll be okay.” Bendjamin screamed in response to Joey’s calming words. It was fair that he’d do so considering Joey had nearly killed him twice now: Once with the Ink Machine and another by crushing his throat.

So much for having trust in each other.

He shook as Joey’s hands cupped the sides of his face, guiding his attention to the human’s calming smile in hopes of distracting him enough to cool him down. “Don’t look at it, don’t look at it. We can make you a new tail. You don’t even need a tail. People will love you without it.”

“B-but my tail…” It’s the principle. You ripped a part of his body away!

You… changed his design.

“It was only your tail. You very well could have lost your head entirely.” Sammy leaned out from behind the machine. If Bendy hadn’t rolled out of the way, he would have lost more than his little tail. He could have been decapitated entirely or worse: gone forever.

Neither of them said much else for a while, allowing the toon to cry until his pain subsided. The demon hadn’t meant to, but he’d found himself slumped against Joey Drew, the man softly petting Ben’s little head in some odd comforting gesture.

Bendjamin noticed how stiff Joey was when he stroked, feeling as though he wasn’t used to tending towards children. It didn’t calm the cartoon down in the slightest, but it made his broken, fluttering breathing slightly more manageable.

If Joey thought that this was the viable solution to the problem, then he was horribly mistaken.

“Counter-clockwise this time… Sammy. Will you please?” Joey’s hands hovered next to Bendy, ready to swifty shove him under the machine once more when he heard the tell-tale crank of the gears. Bendjamin fearfully gripped the man’s clothing, refusing to go down.

It took only a second for the Machine to catch his ink, ripping his substance away from Joey.

“No!” The only thing he could make out before his entire body were dragged into the machine and he was subsequently pulled apart until nothing were left of him.

Funny enough, this time, Bendy didn’t feel heavy when he slipped underneath the dreaded nozzle once more. He felt lighter. His worries and aches didn’t matter anymore. His sight faded and he felt like he was drifting farther and farther from reality. All he heard were the echos of Joey resounding in his head, promising everything would get better.

He couldn’t remember what was distressing him, anyway. He couldn’t even think about anything through the dizzying, falling sensation he were experiencing.

The only thing on his mind was Joey’s words.

Bendy sure hoped everything would be okay.


	2. Here's The Deal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 Promo Art linked here >> http://skoopskoop.tumblr.com/post/161063819949/chapter-2-of-the-thoughts-that-keep-us-alive-is

Over a year had passed since the Workshop opened its doors, creating hundreds of highly entertaining cartoons that took the country by storm. Bendy and Boris were on their way to becoming legends with how presentable the studio had made their brand. Their popularity had skyrocketed in the short amount of time the Toons had taken center stage with their hilarious antics.  
  
Bendy became the chaotic foreman of the bunch. His constant disregards for standards and a lack of empathy for suffering would paint him the villain under normal circumstances, however his charm and witty personality left audiences standing by his side nine times out of ten.  
  
Boris was his right-hand, good hearted everyday man. His shtick consisted of being the conscience Bendy needed when his rule foregoing self took things a little too far. He became a lovable necessity to the onstage pair and, along with that, developed his own fan following.  
  
The two were inseparable.  
  
Sadly, the two were never seen outside of the Workshop.  
  
Plenty of rumors began to sprout about the mystery of the Workshop. Other Toons speculated foul play were part of the reason the Bendy crew never left the studio. Yet the majority of the human populace let the topic die without much consideration.  
  
‘Whatever those dumb cartoons did was their own choice.’ Was enough justification to leave it be. The general opinion only furthered the divide between certain groups. It was more of a serious matter to cartoons than to humans.  
  
However, thoughts soon drifted to the most important event affecting nearly every Toon’s life: The grand Expo.  
  
With the annual Cartoon Expo veering right around the bend, Toons from all over would gather together for some healthy socializing. Creators would let their ‘children’ loose for one weekend for both parties to relax and brandish their accomplishments. It was the event every Toon had been looking forward to since last year: An honest to god free weekend. No good Sundays or Holiday times could fill the gap this Expo left in their hearts.  
  
Every Toon was excited to reunite once more.  
  
Some actually held high hopes that Bendy and his crew would find the time to make the festival.  
  
Perhaps they would leave the Workshop for once in their lives.  
  
****  
  
**“Dance!”** The group of racially exaggerated savages screamed, their spearheads waggling towards the startled duo of Bendy and Boris. A tattered pink tutu flew forth from the crowd, looping around Boris’s neck as their attackers closed in with each repetition. “Dance, dance, dance!”  
  
“Uh...I think the monkeys want something from us.” Boris removed the tutu and handed it to a rather shell shocked, but irate demon.  
  
“Never! I’d rather hang!” Bendy crossed his arms indignantly and snubbed his head up, tucking the frilly garment up under his armpit.  
  
The tribe didn’t seem to understand the refusal and pounced anyway. A comedic scuffle began, large clouds of white smoke blotting out most of the scene; a few stars and random fists poked out of the fight here and there. Once the clouds parted and the fray dissipated, the crowd began marching in a line towards their fire pits. Between a few of the savages hung the two cartoons tied to a spit, their faces both in varying degrees of terror.  
  
“We ain’t gotta chance if you don’t dance!” Boris yipped as a savage yanked his tail, causing him to poke his head all the way down between his legs, bare his teeth and growl at the man. The little demon didn’t budge, barking back a long series of rejections the entire way up to the flaming pit.  
  
Reaching the area, handfuls of dancing and cheering members of the tribe hooted and hollered in anticipation for the show they weren’t going to receive.  
  
“Dance! Dance!” They cried out, picking up spears and jabbing them at the two tourists. Each jab caused them to suck in their stomach or shift their hips up to their neck to avoid being impaled.  
  
“Never!” Bendy spit back only to have the crowd shriek in outrage. Multiple hands ripped Bendy from his precarious perch on the spit, hastily throwing the little demon into a basket. He wobbled his way over the lip of the container, cupping the side of his head. Suddenly, his eyes grew wide as he heard Boris calling for him.  
  
The islanders had thrown his partner over the fire, roasting the poor wolf alive. He was sweating bullets as he blew on the flames. Their chants of “Death, death, death!” while they danced around the fire pit in circles only added to the horror.  
  
“Whoa!! This has gone too far!” Bendy narrated to himself as he reeled back to zip on over to the catastrophe. He froze when he noticed he wasn’t the only one in the basket. A gigantic python loosely swirled around the demon, Bendy nervously smiling at the snake that leered down at him. It took all but a second for the snake to snap its coils taut and drag the tiny demon down back into the container, his little tail slipping out to replace the lid that had fallen off.  
  
“Bendy!” Boris gasped, running out of breath the more he huffed. He glanced over towards the still basket and began to panic.  
  
The situation was terrible!  
  
A savage stabbed Boris’s rear with a spear, eliciting a pained howl from the wolf. Glaring back at the attacker, he curled his tail around the weapon and wrenched it away; he utilized the spear to whack said savage on the head. It was effortless for the wolf to use it as leverage in flipping himself off the fire pit.  
  
Still attached to the spit, mind you.  
  
The villagers seemed to be angered even more by that, their rampaging set directly on the poor wolf. The carnage could be seen this time. Boris bit and tore at any fool who dared get close to him. Attackers yanked his ears, ripped out his fur, gripped at his arms-- anything that would give them a footing in the fight.  
  
That is until-  
  
“Hey, fellas!”  
  
Bendy stood up on top of a crate wearing the tutu. A very long, dead python was slung around his shoulders akin to a feather boa. His face spoke a thousand words of being absolutely cocky about it too.  
  
The crowd paused, lifting their heads to stare at the demon as he cracked the snake like a whip at a line of wooden crates. The strike caused the wood to split, fly into the air then fall perfectly to form a little stage for the demon to hop onto.  
  
“Wanna see a dance, boys?” The inky demon grinned, shaking his hips from side to side in similar fashion to a hula girl. It seemed to have worked. The men dropped their spears and wolf captive, gathering up near the stage and hollering as Bendy danced fluidly across the makeshift stage. Everyone bounced to the music as a hopeful rendition of ‘It Don’t Mean A Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)’ filtered on stage.  
  
Boris, while the men were distracted, slipped out of his binds with relative ease. He was more than shocked to see Bendy even attempt to dance for the crowd, but doing it so willingly was enough to cause the wolf’s jaw hit the floor with a loud bell noise.  
  
Bendy spun in creative circles, the crowd seemingly unaware of the demon’s tail drawing figures behind him as he moved. It all reached a head when he finished, slipping to the center of a pentagram he’d drawn to continue his dance. The more Bendy moved, the more the crowd seemed in a trance fixated on the cartoon’s swift swaying to the beat.  
  
When the band made a particularly strong hit, Boris jumped up on stage to join in the strange ritual Bendy was taking part of. His movements were a bit more clunky due to his lankiness, but Boris managed to grasp the beat of the music just as well.  
  
Just as the song ended, the duo dashed towards each other. Bendy leaped into the air, spinning not once or twice, but six times before falling. Boris skidded onto his knees to catch the little dancing devil with amazing success. As if on cue, Boris’s foot took on all of their weight onto he stomped, kneeling to a finale- the perfect ending. There wasn’t even a moment to breathe between the two before the stage lit ablaze with hell fire and smoke.  
  
The dead snake around Bendy’s shoulders coiled and uncoiled into a huge, satanic beast and began swallowing each person like it was nothing. A once ecstatic crowd was now fleeing screaming. Boris’s eyes flickered to the grinning demon panting in his arms, taking a moment to digest the situation then standing and walking off.  
  
The two forged their path towards their boat in a jolly manner. Bendy were tossed unceremoniously in before Boris awkwardly hopped on the little tug boat’s top. Revving the engine a few times until it started up caused the tiny boat to practically blast away from the island at breakneck speed.  
  
“So, Bendy. What’s gonna happen to the snake?”  
  
“I dunno, Boris! It’s not my problem now!” Bendy laid back on the barely available room of the miniature boat, Boris bending his spine a bit to peer down at the demon.  
  
“We didn’t get to actually relax on our vacation, did we?”  
  
“We’re taking a vacation from our vacation! It’s called **going home!”** The two laughed as they rode into the horizon and the band played them off.  
  
_**“CUT!!”**_  
  
***  
  
The two Toons hopped off the set, still drawn together in their rather simplistic art style. Bendy looked fit to be tied as he furiously ripped off the tutu and proceeded to stomp it into the dust. Norman happily waltzed up to the two, a small line of sweat glistening above his browline. The conductor always put forth his best when it came to shooting full episodes.  
  
“Ben, Boris! You two did great this evenin’!” He seemed so content that the two Toons normally couldn’t help but feel the same way in Norman’s presence. Bendy scoffed slightly, his tail curling like a snake readying itself to strike. His head had to tilt back to lock eyesight with the conductor before his eyes found the shadowed form of Sammy looming in the projector's booth.  
  
“Ten bucks says Sammy isn’t happy with it.”  
  
“Nonsense! It was perfect. 'Sides, If he’s gotta problem with anything he’ll take it up with me or Joey.”  
  
“Then you let him know I already ruined our only tutu. And I DON’T plan on doing this again.” Bendjamin huffed, slicking his horns into swift points. He twisted around and marched away from the conductor. Boris lagged behind, placing his hand on the man’s shoulder and nodding sagely.  
  
“You did good. Thank you, Norman.”  
  
And with that, Boris swaggered his way over to the animation desk, watching as the animators worked their magic.  
  
Before they begin recording, the two always had to be ‘redrawn’ into simpler, more recording friendly designs. The cartoons viewed it in similar vein to putting on make-up before entering the stage. Simplifying them made is easier to exaggerate their features when needed. It wasn’t uncomfortable per se, but it made significant height and build changes to the pair whenever it happened.  
  
Bendy’s normal design had him standing at about shoulder height to Boris, his hands and feet disconnected from his body at all times rather than his head. When it came time to simplify him, Bendy became more pudgy and about waist high of Boris. Admittedly, it was cuter and suited him more, but Boris wouldn’t vocalize that seeing how Bendy disliked being redrawn.  
  
The process took all of twenty minutes per Toon. Once it were done, they tiptoed their way into Norman’s work station. It happened to be the closest one they could steal from and get away with it. Filtering through his drawers and goods for some well-deserved ink was usually easier than this. They couldn’t find any, much to their dismay. The entire desk was drained!  
  
What kinda conductor doesn’t have any ink in their desk?! No self respecting man should ever have a workstation this bone dry. The two nearly scrambled when a sudden knock startled them out of their raid.  
  
A cheeky conductor stood in the doorway, tauntingly spinning an inkwell in his hand.  
  
“Ah, ah, ah. Ya little thieves!” He chuckled watching the two Toons jump and fail to act natural. “I knew you’d come to milk me like a fat cow. So I kept the ink you haven’t siphoned from me in my pocket the entire time!”  
  
“Give it.” Bendy flatly demanded, jutting his hand outward, palm up. Normal chuckled, shaking his head no. The demon noticeably bristled when denied whatever he wanted.  
  
“Nope. Joey said he wanted you two in his office after shooting, so I’m here t’guide ya that way.”  
  
The duo looked betwixt each other, a slight exhilaration manifesting as they silently questioned what Joey would call them in for.  
  
It must have had something to do with them plea/demand/threatening they be allowed out to the cartoon expo coming up in a week. This was a big deal- ten times more important than replenishing their ink.  
  
This was the only chance they had to convince Joey to let them outside.  
  
Norman bowed politely, twisting in the doorway enough for the two to sidle past him. Bendy halted for just a moment to stare down the conductor directly, hissing under his breath. Of course, they were almost at equal height now that he’d been redrawn; Norman was forced to look up at the lanky Toon when he hovered so close.  
  
“Don’t ever look down at me like you did earlier, ever again.”  
  
“So...You want me t’wait for you t’get a chair before I look at ya?” Touché. Norman chuckled once more as Bendy continued his sassy gait, whipping his tail as he gestured a wild shrug. “Alright, then. I’ll ignore ya next time, Ben. Y’all have fun in there with Mr. Drew.”  
  
Ben could have sworn Norman murmured something under his breath, but he couldn’t make out what it was.  
  
The two forged their frantic beeline to Joey’s office about as fast as one could go without running. In fact, they were heading so fast, they barely noticed passing Sammy in the halls. Barely because Bendjamin still sneered at the musical director despite their breakneck speed.  
  
Reaching the door took less time than the duo expected. Both of them skid to a stop, nearly crashing into one another in their haste. It took a moment to reposition themselves to knock on the door and await approval to enter.  
  
Muffled words filtered through the aged wooden door and the two bustled in.  
  
At the desk sat a man that wasn’t Joey. How unfortunate. Both of the stars exchanged worried glances when the man gestured to the seats in front of him.  
  
“Sit down, boys.” Steepling his fingers, the worker furrowed his brows. “We have a lot to cover.”  
  
Each in their own unique way, the two settled down into their respective chairs and began scrutinizing the man across from them akin to predators sizing up prey. They weren’t in a very jocular mood about this already and it was pretty obvious why!  
  
Joey was supposed to be in that seat to discuss something very important with them, not this clown.  
  
“So--”  
  
“Hold it!” Bendjamin interrupted, jumping to take the reins of the situation. “Where’s Joey and why the hell are we talking to you?”  
  
“Joey had business matters to attend to.”  
  
“Yeah, like crying in the water closet.” Boris mumbled with a short exhale through his nose.  
  
“No! He’s-He’s…” The man appeared to get overly defensive over any insinuation that Joey was doing anything, but work. Bendy and Boris found this fact to be highly amusing already.  
  
“‘He’s’ _what?_ Hiding from us because he’s afraid to talk to us by himself?”  
  
“Look, boys. I’m not here to defend my boss. I’m just here to give you the answers you’re looking for.” Oh, so this was indeed about the Expo. Good. The two were getting so antsy looking for answers, they were about ready to rip themselves in half out of pure anticipation.  
  
“Well then. Give us the good word.” The simple way Bendy’s tail flicked back and forth as he smiled darkly made the cartoon look far, far more demonic than he should have any right to be- especially after dancing in a pink tutu on stage. “What did my loving _father_ say?”  
  
The brief halt in conversation felt a lot longer than it should have. Boris propped his chin into the palm of his hand as he harshly gauged the awkward beat. Obviously, the answer wasn’t going to be a pretty one. The man was simply giving them both time to relax; a venture that proved fruitless for the wound up Bendjamin.  
  
“He said Alice is the better choice. You two can have the weekend off here while Alice is out representing the brand.”  
  
_What an amazing answer!_ The air in the room grew hostile in two seconds flat, Bendy seething instantly!  
  
“What?!” He slammed his dripping gloves flush against Joey’s desk, leaning forward with the most condescending smile plastered across his visage. The scare tactic had no effect whatsoever. The man they’d placed as a stunt double for Joey only served as a mouthpiece to relay Joey’s abrupt, final decision on the Expo. “You yellow punk--”  
  
“Bendjamin, simmer down.” Boris snarled under his breath, distaste all but seeping off him. His sharp gaze remained trained on the demons back as he watched him slowly, but surely snap under the pressure and slink back to his chair. The way he tossed himself down into an angry pout, hooking one leg over the other knee and crossing his arms would have naturally caused Boris to grin.  
  
Now was not the time.  
  
“What Joey says is final, boys. I ain’t got a leg to stand on here.” The worker shrugged sheepishly, not too caring about the fact he’d just pissed off their shining stars. “It’ll just be this one weekend and that’s it. Promise it’ll go by quick if you don’t think about it.”  
  
“Satan, give me the strength. That’s the problem! Right there!” Bendy straightened his posture once more. His gloved fingers dug into the armrests of the chair with enough strength to cause the furniture to groan. “WE want to be out there! Not…. cooped up in some rat infested nest for the entire weekend.”  
  
“Joey’s got it covered.”  
  
“By sending Alice as a ‘stand-in’?” The demon hissed, kicking his feet against the ground emphatically. His expression danced between anger, exhaustion and sadness. “This is wrong!”  
  
“We’ve been looking forward to this event for months now. You never let us see the light of day.” Boris’s ears flattened, never backing down on making complete eye contact with the poor punching bag the studio’s head had slipped into the room with them. “It would be less suspicious if we went anyway… You’ve probably read the tabloids, right?”  
  
“Those... were months ago.”  
  
“The media never forgets once it has its eyes on you.”  
  
A balance of power shifted, Bendy duly noting Boris had the conversation by the throat now. Sinking into his chair appeared to be his next and best move. So long as the demon bit his tongue, they might actually have a chance to get a breakthrough in the situation.  
  
“They think you guys are locking us up in cages, forcing us to be slaves for the sake of your moving picture shows.” Boris narrowed his eyes and steepled his fingers together in front of his muzzle- A gesture to mock the other man in front of them.  
  
“You’re always granted free roam of the entire Workshop... no matter what time too.”  
  
“What’s the difference? Doesn’t matter how large our cage is, we aren’t allowed outside of it.”  
  
“You… you act like you guys don’t get everything you could ever want here,” There he goes. Boris’s ears perked up as he sensed a deep sense of over embellishment in the man’s words, him being near frantic to twist the tide of conversation. “We’re more than fair to all of you and yet you still ask for excess!”  
  
“Wrong.” Boris stood, the man copying his actions and following suit in bracing the desk separating the two parties.  
  
The little ink demon couldn’t help but flick his tail about as he drank in every word, every insignificant slip and change in expression with rapt attention. It was all highly entertaining! Maybe Boris would rip the guy’s trachea out!  
  
Bendy could only hope.  
  
The wolf straightened his back with an odd crack, muffled significantly by the sound of fluid. Gross. “Americans. You and your faulty manifesto leading you to ruin.”  
  
Familiar words that meant nothing but pointless, over-dramatic drivel to anyone at this point. Not like the conversation seemed to permeate the human’s thick skull at all. This guy wasn’t a shining pinnacle of intelligence so it seemed.  
  
“W-well… What Joey decided was for the best of the company and you.” A crack in the man’s voice ment vulnerability. Bendy leered, excitement riling up inside of him at how favorably the tables were turned. They had this guy on the defensive.  
  
“Joey doesn’t know what’s best for anybody. He only knows what’s best for his own interests.” It was utterly fascinating to see Boris calculating what to say, his eyes jumping between either of the man’s eyes as he rolled over the right words in his head.  
  
“We’re stir-crazy stuck inside all the time.” Bendy cashed his two cents in, grinning like the wily imp he was behind the wolf's’ shoulder. Boris seemed surprised Bendjamin had stepped up to fight, processing what they should say to keep the conversation on topic.  
  
“If Joey was really concerned about our health and the company, he’d take the steps necessary to accommodate our needs.”  
  
“We’re not just silly cartoons!”  
  
“We aren’t **YOURS** to toy with.”  
  
“I’m sorry, boys, but I cannot argue like this.” The guy folded under the pressure.  
  
Shit.  
  
Bendy jumped to his feet, his excitement melted away into alarm as he could only ogle the worker slinking around the desk. He slipped past the two with immense haste, opening the door and peering behind him with a solemn guise. “What Joey said is final. Henry and Alice are going to be your stand-in’s at the festival, boys. You two can have a weekend while they’re gone.”  
  
“Don’t run, coward!” Bendy’s demand had been ignored by the sound of the well-oiled door clicking shut at the worker’s fleeing heels.  
  
A moment of silence rose between the duo as they processed their predicament.  
  
The two had been planning to go for months, indeed.  
  
Bendy hadn’t met any toons since he became a star. As for the memories he had associated to them… Those were nothing but a bitter silhouette in his mind. He couldn’t remember anything before the Workshop came into his life. Wisps of proper feelings hung in the air like dreams waiting to be pieced together and that he may have known other toons at one point fueled his need to head out to the convention.  
  
Boris wanted to go not only for Bendy’s sake, but in the hopes he could approach another creation that would believe their plight. That the Ink Machine exists and they’re trapped in a workshop with a bunch of crazy people. That he wasn’t always the way he is now.  
  
Nobody really knew him prior to his debut in American film since he’d been outsourced so… he needed to find some friends.  
  
The only friends Boris and Bendy had were each other.  
  
That was how it’d always been.  
  
They needed to see other people.  
  
The latter member of the party jumped when Bendy vented his ire by toppling Joey’s chair then smacking a large stack of papers across the room. A childish tantrum that were arguably justified. The wolf hadn’t said a word edgewise about the fit... until Bendy locked his catlike eyes on the desk lamp across from him.  
  
“No.” Words said only to fall upon deaf ears as the demon wrenched the light out of the wall socket hard enough to snap the cord. The entire room went pitch black, both character’s eyes comically lighting up as the only thing they could see betwixt each other.  
  
“... What happened?” Bendy’s damn near clueless, innocent tone caused an irritated sigh to rupture from Boris as he audibly smacked his own forehead.  
  
“The light decided to break. It’s not important.”  
  
***  
  
The duo settled into their dressing room after fleeing the scene of the crime; a long closet fashioned as a safe-space for the two between shootings. Bendjamin’s side consisted of piles upon piles of clothing and blankets pushed into nests for the demon to curl upon, tall stacks of books lining the corners of the room. Every book had been read at least ten times and he had taken to writing memorable quotes along the walls with his tail.  
  
Boris’s side were lined with fur coats and foreign knickknacks, photographs and letters lovingly taped to the mirror. He seemed obviously proud of his heritage and family by how much he wrote back to them. Thousands of quills laid out along the table, each quill tainted with a different colour ink. Those inks were NOT to eat. Bendy and Boris knew what ink was proper consuming material and used for writing. Much to Bendjamin’s chagrin, he hadn’t the same familial ties as Boris had.  
  
Joey was his creator.  
  
Joey was always busy running the studio.  
  
He hadn’t much time to truly spend with Bendjamin once contract negotiations and licensing deals propped up. Whether this were a good thing or a bad thing was left unsaid. He wasn’t a huge fan of the neglectful hole Joey left in his heart.  
  
So, here they sprawled themselves out to simmer in their newfound hatred of the world.  
  
Bendy’s attention were focused on re-reading ‘Brave New World’ for the twentieth time, the demon prone atop the vanity desk.  
  
Boris worked on scribbling another damned letter to send out to his family. It was both a practice on his handwriting, but also communication.  
  
“Boris.”  
  
“Howdy?”  
  
_“Boris.”_ Bendy elongated the syllables, obviously trying to be annoying.  
  
“What?”  
  
“Alice… Isn’t she just the absolute worst?” He raised his voice at the end of his sentence, not even looking away from his book for a single moment. His head fell to the side for a second so he could scream the next taunt in hopes of getting a reaction out of the little snitch. “I sure do hate her guts and wish she’d wither like the scummy, eavesdropping worm she is!”  
  
…  
  
**“That was really rude!”** Bingo.  
  
Alice opened the door, huffing and sashaying her way into the dressing room. Instinct kicked in, Bendy bristling as he threw his book at the angel. Luckily, she seemed more than ready to swerve out of harm's way.  
  
“Little vixen! You weren’t! Invited! In!”  
  
“Oh, hush. I’m havin’ a gloomy night too, boys.” And with that, the angel clicked the door shut. Resuming her usual perch on Boris’s side of the vanity counter, she hunched over and dropped her head into her hands. The boys froze, holding their breath as they thought she was gonna start bawling or something. They… weren’t capable of handling women and their moods just yet.  
  
“Since you’re baiting us, what’s eatin’ at ya, toots?” Bendy rolled his eyes, blinking as he looked at his hands in silent wonder where his book went.  
  
“Joey’s making me go out to that convention ‘n I don’t wanna go.” Alice sniffed a bit, lifting her head up and rubbing away her unshed tears. She did not look thrilled at all about this revelation. She looked honestly distraught about the entire thing.  
  
“Oh, boo hoo. Cry me a river and drown in it.”  
  
“Ben, stop pickin’ on ‘er.” Boris intervened. The wolf patted the little angel on her back for some gentle reassurance. He was perfectly okay with comforting her like this… Otherwise, he had no clue as to what he should do. “Have you even tried talking to Joey about not going?”  
  
“I haven’t seen him in days! I dunno where he went after he talked to me!” She pulled her knees up to her chin, unashamed that her black bloomers underneath her dress were being brandished to the boys. Boris’s ears flopped back against his head as he felt bad enough that he didn’t have the guts to mention it to her. If Bendy would notice, he’d have the gall to say it. “‘Sides all that, Joey wouldn’t even understand why I don’t want to go.”  
  
“Now, Alice, he might if you explain it well enough.” Boris could see Bendy lifting himself up to look for his book he’d already forgotten that he’d thrown across the room. The demon furrowed his brows and scowled in deep thought as he tried to remember where the hell he’d placed the damn thing.  
  
“He doesn’t get me at all. He doesn’t get anything about me.”  
  
“Probably because he didn’t make you.” Bendy interjected as he slithered across the room to start digging through his book stacks for another read. “Joey’s a busy man. He doesn’t really care about anything other than our brand name.”  
  
Boris and Alice both took a second to stare at the demon. He barely noticed they had halted their conversation to shoot daggers at him from across the room.  
  
“Look here. Joey doesn’t even deal with **ME** anymore, and I’m the figurehead of the studio.” There was a little shrug from Bendy before he slicked back a small portion of ink cascading down over his eye. Wow. He was more fraught over this than he initially theorized. He’d need to calm down if he didn’t want to get angry enough he’d black out. “He’s sending you with your creator anyway. You should be comfortable with him there.”  
  
“But, I won’t be!” Alice’s plump tears ran down her face like a faucet had been turned on. Boris frowned and pulled his hand back, unsure of what to do other than shooting a puzzled look towards Bendjamin. “I-I don’t like people outside of the Workshop! I just want to stay inside forever!”  
  
“Laying it on _pretty thick_ there.” The demon returned to his quest for another book while Boris took his turn to speak over his partner.  
  
“We’re real sorry, Alice, but Joey seems pretty cowardly on actually confronting us face to face. We can’t convince him to change through the grapevine.” It was true. No matter how many mouthpieces they went through, the only effective measure to get Joey to change was direct contact. They couldn’t do much about that since the damn guy was actively evading them.  
  
_What a pragmatic person._  
  
Bendy found another book, perching himself in a corner to commence his reading once more. Notably, he placed himself in the corner farthest from Boris and Alice. It was for the best he kept away from the angelic sprinkler system. Despite that, he seemed rather cross over the entire kerfuffle. At the very least he found some repose in burying his face into Edgar Allen Poe.  
  
“I really, really don’t want to go out, Boris...” Alice keened after her attention swiveled back to Boris. Her hands tightly clasped together in front of her chest, glistening droplets falling and catching her fingers.  
  
“If we could, we’d try an stop Joey from sending you out in the first place.” Boris nodded his head to the side, solemnly focusing on how much Alice were actually crying. The copious amount of tears were forming puddles below the two stars. How much holy water could one Toon hold?  
  
So long as the teardrops didn’t touch Bendy, Boris was fine with Alice crying her worries away. Angel tears were poison to demons… or at least Alice’s made Bendjamin bedridden; last thing he needed was Bendy getting violently ill right before the Expo.  
  
No matter how good of an idea it would be to place a spanner in Joey’s plans, sacrificing Bendy’s health was not in the wolf’s interests. He was dead sure Bendy would be all for suffering to cause a rippling effect around them! If someone could suffer by proxy over his pain, count him in! Boris had little to no doubt Bendjamin would nearly die of holy poisoning just to spite someone else.  
  
Best not to vocalize those thoughts. Not like Ben needs anymore inspiration to injure himself seeing how he's chock full of bad ideas anyway.  
  
“Alice, we’ll think of something. I'm sure Henry would vouch on letting you skip out.” Reassuring words he was sure she needed to hear.  
  
“He tried. He didn't really want to represent the entire studio at the convention either.” Key word here being tried. Joey was quite a stubborn bull to reckon with when he got a chip on his shoulder. He could stand as an utter stonewall in the face of adversity and that pissed almost everyone around him off.  
  
What Joey says, goes.  
  
What a load of crap.  
  
Boris continued to speak with Alice, until she managed to control her sobbing. It became a lot easier to understand her once the heaving ceased.  
  
It didn’t take long for Boris to realize something was off.  
  
His eye caught something. Or, be it, nothing where something used to be.  
  
Bendy had fled the room in the midst of their conversation. It wasn't unheard of for the little Toon to slink away when no eyes were on him, but it always made Boris feel like an ass to call for Bendy's opinion only to receive an earful of dead air.  
  
“Alice, did… you see Bendy slip out?”  
  
“Not at all. The door’s been locked the entire time.”  
  
The wolf double checked, finding the door chain locked. Huh.  
  
“Well I’ll be…”  
  
***  
  
MEANWHILE,  
AT NORMAN POLK’S DESK!  
  
_“Where the **hell** did my ink go?!”_  
  
The man practically flipped his desk out of confusion.  
  
He just **HAD IT!**  
  
Where could it have walked off to when he had it right in his hand not even half an hour prior?!  
  
***  
  
Bendy tossed the emptied inkwell aside, wiping the back of his hand across his lips as he stalked down the hall of the studio. Weighted footsteps made the floorboards creak and whine from old age, so he needed the little ink boost to liquidize himself. As long as there were a crack he could fit, he could go.  
  
Alice was draining, to say the least. He had zero interest in ever lending a hand to her sorry behind. Angelic and demonic rivalries surpassed simple character roles. Also, Alice was just plain annoying.  
  
In Bendjamin’s petty ignorance game, he felt the floorboards vibrate softly. Someone was not just walking down the hall, but sneaking. Someone was SNEAKING. Perhaps a person of a certain height and weight whom Bendy were very, very familiar with decided to sneak their sorry ass past his dressing room.  
  
Well, it wasn't like Bendy were incredibly invested in the conversation to begin with.  
  
He sloppily skittered along the wall, his body sticking and tainting as he squirmed along behind the one person everyone wanted the head of: Joey.  
  
Akin to sneaking home late at night after another infidelity round, Joey snuck into his dark office and gingerly clicked the door shut behind him. Flicking his light-switch revealed the amazing fact that his lamp had been disconnected.  
  
Or ruined. Broken. Murdered.  
  
The human shambled to his desk, digging around for the pièce de résistance he kept especially for times like these. His fingers felt the rough little box, pulled them out with a small triumphant noise and shook the box a bit to hear clinking of matches inside. Joey slid the box open and fiddled around blindly to remove the tiny toothpick sized match.  
  
With the speed of a lethargic sloth, the man eventually struck the match.  
  
“D'ya come here often, big boy?” Bendy’s dripping face were near centimeters away from Joey’s face. The man flinched and dropped his match, accidentally snuffing it out in his frantic fit. A loud crashing sound followed suit along with multiple other noises of pain.  
  
Once all the commotion died down, another match was struck by Bendy, the perplexed toon snickered loudly as he knelt over the edge of the table.  
  
“What a schmuck! What a sucker! C'mon, Joey, you need to wind down!” Joey slowly pushed himself up, smoothing his hair back. His pained expression screamed of how badly in trouble you are gonna be in, Bendy. Better go all out if you’re gonna get punished anyway.  
  
Bendy crushed the match to rid the light between them, Joey floundering to draw himself into his desk chair.  
  
“Ben, please. I just got back from a very important meeting. I'm tired.”  
  
“Golly! Did you bring me a souvenir?” Another match was struck then immediately killed. Bendy crept around the exhausted man, swirling, looming like a shark that had a fixation to light every match in Joey’s book. “Ah, wait. Right, right! You don’t care about me enough to do that kinda stuff.”  
  
“You know that's not true and I know why you’re saying that. I’m not falling for it, Ben.” Joey crossed his arms and leaned back with a long exhale. This time the match were struck, Bendy had awkwardly perched himself over top of his so-called creator like a gargoyle. The flicker of the match lasted for only a second before that too was snuffed.  
  
“Falling for _what_ exactly?”  
  
“Falling for your manipulation.”  
  
“Last I checked, my ‘manipulation’ was based more on fact than opinion.” Bendy’s sharp teeth glistened in Joey’s peripheral for a fraction of a second.  
  
“I made my decision. It’s what’s best for both you and Boris.”  
  
“Good broken record impression. Not like you haven't said this all before.” The match lit this time was held inches away from Joey’s head as Bendjamin dug his claws into the chair along either side of the man’s precious, delicate skull. His ink boiled with a seething rage, dripping down the Toon’s face in little black lines.  
  
“What I said is final.”  
  
_“Oh, Joey..."_ Bendy's voice croaked as he tilted his head, nearly purring in the long pause he took. _**"I wish!**_  Oh, I wish I could show you how it feels to be _stuck_ in the same damned place since the day you were born. It’s-It’s maddening! It makes you feel so helpless knowing there's a WORLD outside... and you'll never get to see it. It makes you feel like you’d do _anything_ to leave.”  
  
His claws withdrew from the chair, threateningly grazing Joey’s tender neck.  
  
“You’d even do something _drastic…_ just to get out.”  
  
“Bendjamin, I am **not** changing my mind.”  
  
Bendy hissed, his eyes narrowing as he showcased his serrated teeth. He arched his spine like a feline, tail swishing to and fro. How badly he wanted to crush that throat of Joey's was unbearable. Where that need arose from was unknown.  
  
Was he really that upset that he felt an insatiable need to choke his creator?   
  
**“Then convince _me_ to change _mine.”_**


	3. A Little Give, A Little Take

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter cover located here: http://skoopskoop.tumblr.com/post/161830699309/chapter-3-of-the-thoughts-that-keep-us-alive-is

Joey’s eyes widened ever so slightly, just enough to stroke Bendjamin’s ego. That subtle parting of the curtains veiling the man’s true feelings only encouraged him to go on.

“Yes, Joey! Give me reason not to lose my damned mind. Preferably, a good one because I'm not in any mood for jokes.” He snapped venomously, allowing the words to curl off his tongue. Why not be as lucid as possible when concerning the fate of a certain studio head’s head? 

However, the demon couldn't decipher the shadow that cast over his creator’s face. It worried him that he couldn't puzzle what the man were thinking. After a little patience oil being burned, the Toon drew back a bit and cocked an eyebrow. 

No reaction at all?

“Did I scare you that ba--”

Ben jumped back as Joey raised his hand; a knee-jerk reaction for reasons the demon couldn’t explain. 

All he did was simply raise his hand and Bendjamin had a massive panic attack. Stumbling back, his spine grazed the edge of Joey’s desk just before he hit the ground. Papers left scattered about crinkled and stained underneath the recoil of Bendy’s fall. There sprawled the crumpled demon, hand fearfully holding his own throat as he drew in short, panicked breaths. If he had a heart, it would be furiously beating out of his chest.

The look he shot Joey were a mix of betrayal and fear. He looked… almost like he were ready to cry. “Bastard!”

“I'm sorry! You were getting out of hand, Ben.” Joey slowly lowered his hand, a somber expression plastered on his face. Neither party were currently enjoying themselves and that made the situation even more awkward as Bendjamin wobbled back to his feet.

“You promised you wouldn't do that anymore!” It was awfully embarrassing in hindsight how volatility Ben reacted to a simple hand gesture. Dare he even say that the movements triggered him to react in such a way. Something buried deep within his psyche kicked his sorry tail into gear and he followed through the throes of it all.

“I am sorry, Bendy. Please believe me.” The man’s plea was met with more displeasure. How Joey hated to see Bendjamin so upset. Frowns didn’t suit the demon’s face at all. It was almost a crime in itself to betray a promise he’d made to his darling devil. “Why don’t... you simply sit down? We’ll talk like adults about the whole problem.”

“T-that’s rich comin’ from you.” The Toon braced himself against the desk, slicking back the excess ink cascading down his face with a low growl. Demon not happy. “What’s there to talk about? You’ve already set your decision in stone.”

“Let’s say, you’ve persuaded me, Ben.”

Bendy perked up a bit, still shaking from the adrenaline that shot through his entire form. How he managed to remain relatively stable nonetheless was astounding. After being knocked so far off kilter, he’d have to have some guts to prop himself up.

Persuaded? The skepticism sat plainly on the demon’s face as he crossed his arms to hide that insistent vibrating. 

“Now, now. I know you feel hurt over being forbid from your little playdate--” Joey blinked as Bendy snapped his teeth and grit out: “Oh, you know it’s so much more than just that.”

There was a pause. Slowly, Joey leaned back into his chair and rubbed his temple with two fingers. Rolling his free hand, he gestured for Bendy to ‘go on’.

“It's important. Every Toon and their creator is going to be out there for the whole weekend! It's not just some play date!” Bendy’s tail curled around himself almost protectively as he withheld his anger, bottling it up. “You work us to the bone and then refuse to let us have even a moment of freedom. Worst of all: Dad, we wouldn’t be as PISSED if you just gave us a good answer why we can’t go out, rather than ‘because I said so, now watch me avoid you for a week’.”

Joey drew in a long breath, pausing before engaging with a grunt. He could read Bendjamin’s body language like a book and right now he was obviously a tricky read. The studio head was already walking on eggshells; he’d need to word everything carefully to get this to work. “I’ve realized a very large error in my attitude as of late. Said attitude nearly got me killed by my own son.”

“You might be right about that.” Bendy muttered under his breath, growing more and more relaxed with time. The man visibly noticed ever millimeter the Toon’s shoulders relaxed, subtly allowing his eyes to roam the entire Toon’s body as to not raise too much suspicion with his calculated gaze.

“Ben, you want outside. While I can’t let you go to that convention--” Joey’s hands popped up defensively to counter the way Ben braced himself once more. Whether through words or being at the business end of the demon’s claws, Joey didn’t want to push the envelope enough to find out. Of course, Bendjamin flinched and drew back as his scowl deepened. “Ah! Spring loaded or not, you need to sit down for ten minutes or I won’t make a deal in anyone’s favor, Ben!”

A testing silence fell upon them before Bendjamin huffed and dragged himself up on Joey’s desk. What a good boy.

“I’m giving an ultimatum. I’ll let you outside for the convention weekend. I’ll even make it a religious thing, as much as it pains me to say.” The big eyes Bendy focused on Joey had him grinning from ear to ear. “That would mean once… maybe twice a week, you would get to go out and run around to your heart’s content. Within boundaries.”

The look he was given were nothing short of astounding. It was admittedly cute how some dumb promise could screw with Bendy so bad. Ben was just so easy to wind up like a little toy, then watch bounce around yapping. It were a guilty pleasure Joey partook in occasionally to excite and make Bendy’s day whenever possible simply to witness the reaction. The raw emotion he could get from the Toon’s happiness made him feel at peace with every decision he’d made thus far.

He could do good for Ben if he really felt like it.

“The catch?” Bendy’s tail flicked back and forth like a metronome as he bent forward, dying for the answer.

“You’ve got to convince Alice she needs to cover at the convention.”

And that soured the demon’s mood faster than Joey could roll his eyes.

“Joey!” Ben covered his eyes and hissed, dramatically throwing himself backwards over the desk. Joey didn’t seem too perturbed about the hissy fit Bendy began to pitch. He had a hard time getting angry at Bendjamin over… well, anything, really.

“If you convince Alice to go to that convention, she can represent our brand and we will be free of any troublesome paparazzi over the weekend. You can go outside without fear.”

‘I can let you outside without fear’ was more accurate. He patiently waited as Ben flailed and writhed, attempting to suppress the impatience mounting with his little demon. It was amusing, but that could only go so far.

“You done?” Minutes upon minutes had passed before the commotion died down, Joey striking a new match just as the previous one snuffed out.

“...” No response.

Now, that got on his nerves. Joey could pry an answer out of Bendy, but he was growing tired of the silent games the two played. Joey stood, preparing to walk out of his own office. He KNEW Ben would jump up as well to stop him.

“I’ll do it.” The demon gripped Joey’s sleeve with such need. Joey hardly restrained his wily grin due to his victory. Manipulation was easy, but even more so on a subject so open as Bendy.

“I’m happy. If Alice goes, there will be no attention stuck on us. You go outside and test the waters for the weekend.”

A small pause followed suit. “Boris too.”

Boris too, huh? Judging by the expression gracing Bendy’s white visage, Joey wasn’t going to have any choice on this matter. It’s that or stoke the flames he’d barely managed to snuff out in the first place.

“Fine. Boris as well.” He said. Bendy’s eyes lit up hearing those words. The demon could have jumped with utter joy as he cherished the idea that he’d be able to go outside for once in his damned life. He didn’t care about any of those troublesome reasons Joey denied them freedom in the first place. All that mattered to Bendy was the sweet escape. Taking Boris with him was the cherry on top of it all. “Y’happy yet?”

“Yeah. Well, it took you long enough..”

“Perfect. Now... Who’s my darling little devil?” Nope. Nuh-uh. He’s not gonna say it. Ben’s eyes dropped, the Toon looking away sheepishly. “C’mon, Ben. Who’s my little devil? Who is it?” 

Bendjamin groaned as Joey placed his hands on either of the demon’s shoulders and patronizingly purred the words. God. Damn it.

“Me…” He grumbled the words enough for Joey to cock his head cheekily, whispering in a hushed excited tone: ‘What was that?’ “Me.”

“You?”

“YES. Me.” Ben narrowed his eyes with a sharp inhale. The Toon puffed his chest out a bit to brace himself for the inevitable reaction. As predicted, Joey enveloped the Toon in a loving bear hug, squeezing the living daylights out of his demon with a noise akin to a squeaky toy.

Bendy was such an eccentric and entertaining being. Joey was glad to have raised him as such.

“I promise this will all work out in the end. I’m sure of it.” He said.

“This better, Dad.” Bendy curtly followed.

“Oh it will! But, one more thing. Could you riddle me where my lamp is, Bendjamin?”

Bendy’s eyes snapped open and he felt sweat droplets begin to bead on his forehead. No way he could tell Joey what had actually happened.

****  
The daring duo of Boris and Alice trudged down the halls in search of their missing comrade! Only slightly mundane adventures await them in the hall’s they’ve walked so many times that they could name every nook and cranny.

Boris and Alice stuck to the right side of the corridor as they noticed Wally coming up hot on their tails. They pressed their backs to the wall, giving more than enough room for the man to slip by if he needed. Apparently, he didn’t need to seeing as he stopped dead in his tracks and whistled at the two Toons.

“God. You two look like you’ve been hit by a truck ‘er two?” His cocky voice matched the smile on his face as he leaned against his wheely-bin. “Something must really be eatin’ at you guys.”

“Now, what makes y’say that?” Alice wiped her eyes just to be sure she hadn’t any excess tears dancing at the edge of her eyelids. The man’s fingers pointed to the tear stains dribbled all the way down the entire hall. He didn’t appear right well pleased about it either. “Oh, Mister Franks. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t mention it. ‘S not like I’m gonna bite your head off about it. But, please. Next time, turn down the sprinklers until you find a hall with a drainage pipe. Just so Joey doesn’t bite my head off about it, cause if y’don’t, I’m outta here!” The two nodded and that seemed enough to satisfy Wally’s whole point to pull over. Once he returned to his daily rounds, Boris jumped to attention, barking for Wally far enough down the corridor that his voice echoed.

“Wally! Have you seen Bendy anywhere?”

“Not really! Why?” He responded. Boris huffed, waving Wally off. The janitor made an over-exaggerated ‘what??’ shrug before continuing his warpath down the hall. Alice and Boris exchanged worried, questioning looks and resumed their own travels until their hunger became too much of a nuisance to go on.

Bendy could handle himself. It was time to find some chow.

As fate would have it, the two made it to the Ink Machine in less time than they would have liked. Each with their own look of subtle disgust, bypassed the contraption to reach the excess vials of ink stored behind it. While the crew had other areas to store the ink, how sparse the storage space had started to become through the copious amounts the Machine had produced caused the workers to start to be storing ink in random areas.

Most notably happened to be the pyramid of jars stacked up behind said culprit itself.

The duo didn’t speak much at first. Plopping down, they grappled large handfuls of the jars and began to eat. Yanking the tops of the vials off with wet popping noises sufficed to occupy the empty air between them as they drank their fill.

Alice decided to be the first one to break the ice.

“This ink always tastes bad.” She frowned, casting a wayward glance towards the mechanical monstrosity behind her.

“It tastes no different from any other ink.” Boris countered, throwing his head back to empty his fifth vial the same way one would shoot liquor at a bar. Drawing down once more, he grunted and tossed the empty coffin aside. “... But, I understand what you mean.”

“It’s… the machine. I can’t drink its ink without thinking about it anymore. I think about how bright and happy things used to be before it. How I wasn’t saddled with so much…”

“Guilt?” Boris tested, Alice shaking her head.

“No. More like desire.” She rolled her head, slicking back a stray lock of hair with a solemn giggle. Boris sighed, leaning back and downing another vial. Alice hadn’t even finished her third and here was the big bad wolf going on seven. It was an obvious internal debate if they should even save some for Bendy based on courtesy alone.

“I don’t get what you see in him.”

“Ha… Neither do I.” Alice rubbed her eye, not even caring if she smeared her mascara anymore. 

What did she see in Bendy? There wasn’t anything she found conventionally attractive about him. He was a bitter, spoiled, selfish little brat of a demon. Yet, somehow, she found herself head-over-heels for him because of reasons unknown. She was in love with him since the day they met. Love at first sight must have been a myth up until then because she fell and she fell hard.

“Do you really think you two will ever be together?” The wolf said. His tone betrayed him, unveiling the worry he held so close to his heart over the sentiment. Judging by the way his fur stuck up on end as well, he hadn’t meant for it to come out that way either.

“I dunno, Bori. He says he hates me. All I do is make his life harder because I steal the limelight.” Melancholy didn’t even begin to scratch how the poor angel sounded. Every insult Bendy had thrown at her must have stuck deep. Boris could see the small tears well up in her eyes once more and how hard she fought to keep them at bay. “What about you? Don’t you want each other to be together?”

“Lady, it’s the twentieth century! There ain’t no way I’m getting away with being a fruit without Joey taking me to the vet to have me neutered. Or worse--” Boris knocked on the metal of the Ink Machine a few times. The two shuddered as the metallic echo rung like death. “--Euthanized.”

Sweat dripped down Alice’s face and she downed her drink nervously. A shaky apology began to cross her lips before Boris stopped her with a snort.

“Besides all that, I look at Bendjamin more as family. He’s like a little brother to me and I’d do anythin’ to protect him- same goes for you.” He grinned a bit, scratching his head as he thought of a good way to word his next statement. “And, for whatever it’s worth, if I could’ve had either of you as partners in another life, I’m pretty certain I would’ve chose you both. Couldn’t bare to pick between ya.”

“I dunno what tail end of a conversation I just heard, but I’m gonna need you two to take your dresses off and end this tea party tear-fest.” Bendy pivoted in from the doorway, leaning against the wall. Both of the Toons reacted as though they had been caught doing something illegal, practically trampling each other to run up to Bendy whose wide eyes bounced betwixt them. “Golly! You all brought the welcome wagon out just for lil’ ol’ me?”

“Where did you go, Ben? We were looking for you.” Boris’s gruff tone didn’t even phase Bendy. His little demon tail flicked about akin to clockwork as he smirked.

“Important matters that I’m feeling privy with! But, first!” He winked at Boris before shuffling up to Alice and drawing her into a soft embrace. God. Good god. Swallow your pride for two minutes and just say what she wants to hear. “Ohh~ Alice. Dear, angelic Alice.”

Bendy scowled as he purred. He could feel the heat from her flustered and confused state burning his shoulder. How dare she be taller than him and how dare she make that so apparent at a time like this when Bendjamin were standing on his tiptoes to hook his chin over her shoulder.

“I know how you feel: afraid to confront the world. I was once in your very same shoes. The convention seems so nerve wracking, but I know of only one person in this entire workshop who could go out there and shine like the star she is.” Alice were already shaking her head, whimpering ‘no, no, no’. This… was going to be tougher than Bendy had anticipated. “Alice, listen to me. Joey chose you because you are the most responsible member of our cast. He hates to see you so secluded from the rest of the world. Joey told me he was hoping you’d find… uh, one of those flappers!”

Alice’s eyes lit up and Bendy drew back with the most innocent, toothy smile he could muster.

“He wants you to find a gal to bounce ideas off of. You could relate to a girl more than two knuckle draggin’ idiots like us. And if you feel the pressure is too much, Henry’s gotta nice and quiet hotel room booked so you can unwind.”

Persuasion charm, do your thing.

Alice rolled her head for a moment, deep in thought. Bendy internally shook in fear of rejection. This had to work. It absolutely had to or he’d lose his one and only shot to freedom. A few seconds passed, but the suspense made it feel like hours, before Alice sighed and nodded.

“I’ll… try.” Not as confident as Bendjamin would have wanted, but close enough. He yipped happily, barked for joy and hugged Alice once more. Whomever has the audacity to say Ben isn’t good at buttering people up is a liar.

“OH, Alice! You’ve made me the happiest demon straight outta hell! I could just kiss you!”

“Then why don’t you?”

The fanfare stopped, both Ben and Boris caught out in left field by the comment.

Did Alice catch a wild hair?

“Uh… well… Could Alice. Could as in I-I could, but no...” Ben audibly struggled to tiptoe out of the trap he’d placed himself in. Alice softly guided Bendjamin’s arms back around her as she circled her own around his waist. The demon jolted when he pushed away and felt her fingers interlocked behind him. “A-Alice?”

“Ben, please. Please! Can’t you kiss me?” She begged, Bendjamin feeling his face heat up from a mixture of embarrassment and ire. He shouldn’t have opened his dumb mouth. “I need more incentive to-to go. I-I don’t think I could do it without your support!”

And he couldn’t be rude to her now, lest he want the deal he had made to slip between his fingers like water.

“Alice, I don’t want--”

“I don’t want to go, but you want me to! Why don’t we sacrifice a little dignity for each other… just this once?”

Oh god. Ben’s fearful pupils found Boris, whom had turned his back to the display. If Bendy could, he’d throw one of those blasted ink vials right at the dog’s head. That bastard was just gonna let him suffer!

Fine.

If it meant escaping, he could push his ego aside for ten measly seconds.

Right?

Bendy didn’t give into hesitation. He groaned, clenching his eyes shut and awkwardly smashing their faces together into a harsh kiss. As painful as that sounds, it absolutely was! He wouldn’t dare look the angel in the eyes as she kissed back and forced the kiss to soften up a bit and... actually be less like tectonic plates rubbing together and more like an emotional embrace; the poor demon practically feeling her suck the soul out of him. 

Metaphorically speaking, but it still stood.

The seconds ticked by as Ben counted them, readying himself to shove her aggressively at the number ten.

1…

2…

3…

She had decided it a good idea to draw him in closer. Bendy arched and screamed so loud in his mind, he lost count.

7…

8…

Alice took liberty in dipping Ben and, due to their respective weight and heights, placed Bendjamin at a vast disadvantage in terms of control. He couldn’t help it that he was a lithe, little cretin! Besides, wasn’t the guy supposed to take the lead anyway?!

He couldn’t wait for ten.

Bendjamin broke away with a loud, ragged gasp. Instantly, he was coughing and praying to whatever god he could find in the time he had left that Alice would simply drop him. Just allow him to fall flat on his face against the hardwood floor and let him burn over the sins he’d committed all for a little taste of the outside world. 

If he could vomit, he would…

Alice, on the other hand, did not let Ben go. She was starstruck, dazed in that little puppy love complex she’d momentarily managed to sate. Strange how she felt almost drunk off the ‘love’. Placing Ben on his feet proved no challenge; walking out of the room, giggling, slurring and wobbling was the true battle.

“Hee, hee. See you later, boys~!” Her singsong tone echoed throughout the hall as she started to hum near euphorically.

Boris turned to Bendy, ready to catch his friend as he collapsed and dry heaved. He wasn’t shocked Bendy would be sick after a freak show akin to that, especially due to his distaste for Alice.

“Boris… B-Boris. Do me a favor...”

“Yeah, Ben?” The wolf swept Bendy up into a bridal style hold to support the jelly condition of his legs. If Ben weren’t making such a ridiculous expression, said sweep would have been easier. Cocking an eyebrow at the horrified look torn on the demon’s face, Boris jostled Bendy to unfreeze him.

“Guh… Lay my head under the Ink Machine. And turn the knob clockwise, please.”

***

Sammy leaned against the wall, eyeing Alice as she wobbled all the way down the hall to Henry’s workspace. Her voice, her blasted humming made his stomach turn. There were bigger fish to fry in the end. 

He’d heard just enough of the conversations between both Joey and Bendy’s crew of little misfits to comprehend what was happening. It was just enough to have a small chat with Joey about it all and to vent a bit of his own stress as well.

“Knock, knock.” Sammy spoke in time with his actual knocking, hand already on the doorknob of his boss’s office. Did he feel anxious entering his boss’s office? Of course. You’d have to be some type of sociopath not to.

“Ah, Sammy Lawrence. Just the man I wanted to see!” Joey smiled his usual dumb smile and Sammy scowled in return. The musical director crossed his arms and glared daggers at his boss. “I can tell you’ve already got your own bone to pick with me as well.”

“You’re letting him out?”

“Them, Sammy. Them.” He corrected with a wag of his finger.

“Either way, he’s getting outside. Wasn’t there a whole spiel at one point or another about how devastating letting him out would be?” Sammy said. His eyes narrowed as Joey leaned back in his seat and hummed before letting out a quick ‘no.’ “I’m certain there was.”

“Perhaps you were, perhaps you weren’t. It’s all very fuzzy to me!” The fact that Joey was dismissing the confrontation caused Sammy to lean in a bit more, barely holding back a growl.

“If he got outside, chances of him running away increased as well as some nosy reporter prodding him until it garnered suspicion. Ringing any bells here?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Sammy rolled his eyes, backing off. “Don’t worry about it, huh? I remember hearing those exact words when you installed that button in my office.”

“What I meant was I have a plan and you’re not directly involved, so you don’t need to know.” His expression shifted to an indecipherable emotion. Cocky, testing, proud? Sammy’s frown lessened for a moment. “That is, unless you’d prefer to be involved.”

The two stood at a checkmate for what felt like years. Sammy felt his eye twitch, his arms uncrossing uncomfortably as he focused on the other’s smug face. He knew Joey were manipulating him and he was smart enough to fully realize it was happening. Yet, he caved and folded his hand in, maneuvering to sit across from Joey and sigh.

“You already knew the answer to that question. As long as you don’t put my neck on the line, Drew, I’ll tolerate your harebrained ideas.”

Joey leaned back and chuckled deeply. “That’s the ticket, Sammy. You never fail me.”


End file.
